Television sweep circuits



Feb' 5, w52 Y w. K. HODDER ETAL 2,584,268

TELEVISION SWEEP CRCUITS Filed June 16, 1949 y2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Patented Feb. 5, 1952 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICEY TELEVISION SWEEP CIRCUITS Application June 16, 1949, Serial No. 99,508

3 Claims.

This invention pertains t television sweep circuits and more particularly to vertical and horizontal-sweep-generating circuits having improved linearity. In television pickup tubes and display tubes a beam of electrons scans or sweeps a screen sur` face in successive horizontal lines to either generate electrical signals representative of a light image in the case of a pickup tube or to illuminate the screen in varying degrees of brightness in the case of a display tube.

As is well known in the art, the electron beams of the pickup and display tubes are caused to scan the entire area of asuitable screen in a succession of horizontal lines under the combined action of horizontal and vertical deflection means, the relative rates of the horizontal and vertical deflection means being such that a beam moves from left to right 262% times while it is progressing from top to bottom of the screen .and caused to retrace once in 1/60 second.

Obviously in order that the picture depictedon lMere synchronization of the start of theser sweeps, however, does not completely solve the problem as coincides of position of the'beams on the respective screens may be lost if the relative speed of travel t ereover varies after thestart of'any selected'deection. As a practical matter similarity of speed of travel of the respective electron beams over the surface of their respective screens must be secured by making the beams sweep over the surface of the screens at a constant rate horizontally and at a constant rate vertically.

vTo vprovide a'constant rate ofsweep of the beams over the surface of the respective screens theelectron beam deflecting means is energized byv sawtooth wave forms, the vertical side of the sawtooth' wave corresponding to the time of retrace of the beam across the screen and the slant- ,l

ing side corresponding-to the tim' of scanning the screen surface. y, y

In general practice .the sawtooth wave forms which are used to energizeth'e deiiecting means of the display tube at the receiver are generated by a series resistance-capacitance circuit periodically triggered by vertical and horizontal synchronizing pulses, the vertical side of the wave form being produced at the instant of reception of the triggering pulse and the slanting side being produced by the recovery of the condenser. The recovery of the condenser. however, follows an exponential law and in general the time constant of the resistance-capacity circuits used is such a small multiple of the period of the energizing pulses that the exponential curvature is present in the slanting side of the sawtooth. The speed of travel of the sweep of the electron beam over its screen, therefore, is by no means linear and the picture depicted yon a display tube appears to be crowded at the bottom and at its right edge.

In order to correct this improper action it has been customary to introduce a curvature in the opposite sense in amplifying the sawtooth wave form by the use of a succeeding tube the dynamic transfer function of which increases as its input increases. This practice, however, corrects one fault by adding another vleading to a multiplicity of controls. In some cases there are as many as seven controls` which affect. linearity, since the adjustment of the amplitude control requires readjustment of linearity.

The present invention avoids these difficulties by generating a sawtooth wave form which is -1 truly linear and maintaining the linearity thereof through its various stages of amplification.

This is accomplished; by utilizing a sawtooth generating circuit whose time constant is exceedingly long compared to the period between. energizing pulses so that only the rstsmall es- I sentially straight portion of the recovery curve of the condenser is used as the sawtooth wave generating means. y.

Additionally this Y after having been generated is maintained" in such linear condition by the use of an amplifier.l

Fig. 1 is a schematic illustration' of a vertical Sweep circuit embodyingthe invention.

linear sawtooth wave forml fac? Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of a horizontal sweep circuit embodying the invention.

Figs. 3 and 4 are illustrations of various wave forms used in explaining the operation of the invention. g,

Referring to Fig. 1, sharp triggering pulses derived fromlvertical synchronizing signals receiveclf from a television transmitting station-and `segregated by a television receiver are impressed on the terminal II. rIhese sharp pulses constituteed the input signal for triggering the vertical.sweep;l circuit, are of short duration, and occur every 1/50 second as illustrated at A in-Figr- These pulsesf.4 are impressed on the grid i2 ofapuls'e amplifier tube I3, the plate current of whichlOv/srthroughone winding I4 of a pulse transformer. The transformer is connected into thegplate-andzgridi. circuit of another tube l5 in such a manner that the tube and its associated circuits constitutesI blocking oscillator. Y

Afpositive `current 'pulse in the `windingI I 4 'in'- duces asharp potential surge in thei'windingfI'l which increases the potentialof tltiefgridl .Iilofvvthe tube. I6 `sothat iits plate current increases;- reinforcing theeiect ofthe inputrpulse.v` Upon 'decay of the primary-current the=secondary Apo` tential 4is reversed. andi` becomes lower than ground potential,applyingacorresponding negative .charge to -thecondenser-IS." The condenser I9 slowly recovers-toward ground/potential under "3. control ofthe RC timing circuit' consistinglof the condenser I9 andtheadjustable:resistor-:Zigand in' doing .so controls theY potential of the -grid 'I 8 accordingly; The `adjustment'iof this 'hcld con-1. trol resistor 2 I once made; need .notk bechanged;l itpermits restoration of the gchargefof ithe :con` denser L I9 nearly-.tov zero withinwth'e 41/0` second i sweep period. These grid potential changes -are f depicted at'B in Fig. 3.

The grid I8 of=tube IBis connected tofthe'grid 22 Iof another-tube ,23; so-. that.-fther-.potential l changes of the grid I8 are-impressedonthe lat.- tertubev. The tube 23 lampliesfthepotential-f wave form'illustratedl inFigfB at-Biandutilizes4 the-initially- -risingportion thereof to excite the vertical sweep timing circuit.` The nverticalsweepr` timingY circuit'consists ofthe capacitor-24 1n-sew rieswith the lresistor26- fand the potentiometer 2'I. The anode 28 of the tube123 together with!l the connectedfplate Vvofthe-condenser 24 `-are statically at a positive -potential nearlyfas-high as-that-of the -l-Bibus l29 and 'dynamically'-at-V some lower potential controlle'dzbyfthe setting of the potentiometer 21, whichfacts to Acontrolthe vertical sweep amplitude-and thereby tl'ie-verti`I i cal-size of the-picturef Upon-positive energiza-V- tion ofthe grid 22 the tube 23 draws 'cui-renti" partly discharging-fethefcondenser -24f to 'nearf groundV potential; VUpon energization ofthe grid` 22 negatively, the anode current stopsand the -60 condenser` 24 commences recharging through the resistor 26 land potentiometermZ'I towards `its static potential-atan exponentiarrate controlled f by its RC'time constant. This dischargefchargeA 'i cycleis illustrated at C in'FigB and c :onstitutes:'c5VL the sawtooth sweep wave form for controllingV the Vertical sweep and verticalretrace'ofV the cath-V ode ray in the videoA tube. The vertical portion"- of curve-C controls'the retrace-oi.V thecathode'ray' f and Ythe slanting portion controlsY the 'vertical'70 sweepduring formation of the; imageronfthe tubes iiuorescent screen: The wave form C 'isililustrated as having its slanting portion-com-x prising Aa straight-line rather thanian exponen-A tial recovery curvefsince in theinstantinverr 75' tion the time constant of the resistance-capacity circuit consisting of the condenser 24, resistor 26, and potentiometer 21 is on the order of 30 times the period of the vertical pulses, and the recovery curve of the condenser 24 is therefore drawn out to such a length that the small portion! thereof depicted as?occurriggwithin the space-'of'li-second is virtually afstraightli'ne, appears so when inspected by an oscillograph and accordingly is so drawn.

Thissawtooth voltage is impressed on the control'electrode 3| of a tube 32 which with anoth'ersimilartubeH33I'constitutes a cathode-coupled'differentialamplier II2. The control electrodesfSIfand1 35`are connected to a low positive biaspotential at a junction 99 through two equal resistorssIIlI:` and,..|02 respectively, so that the tubes have equal bias of such amount as to cause them -to-foperate alike and on a straight portion of their characteristic curve. The potential ot the junctionr99 issecured Vby makingl it an; intermediate lpoint of a potential: ,divider composed :ofi two resistors :I 03 an'd:.I 04 in series. connectedzbef. tween a source of positive potential and ground."Y

The .cathode-resistor `:34 is common `to :fthe two tubes 32 .and .33 so'thatv signals of voppositesense f' or unequalasignalszof .thesame sense-:appliedto: the control electrodes-:3l ,fand..35.Qhavefgreatfef-t fect '.inr.:.producing asignaly in'sthe n. output .comA ductor: 36:-connected :tothe ranode 1:31, but I .equalT f signals or like sense simultaneouslyapplied'tothef.

two control nelectr'odes r practically/f1 cancel each otlieriein:,theiitieiectr` atthe,output. conductor '3B.= f Since these tubes :are f operated` on.` the straight. l portions of theircharacteristic curvespthe output. potential 4signal at, they conductor 36 lduplicates and ,invertsfthe sawtooth of waveform C, Fig. 3; and is;proportionalI to thefdiiference, of the signal:

magnitudeson theelectro'des'3land-35.` The dif.- ferential .output'potential isA indicated by the wave form D in Fig. 3.

This 'differential-.output4 potential vis impressed stageV anda pentode 31 initsnnal stage.

sawtoothv form1-`which -s similar. tol-the curve-D inverted-fandis depictedby the curve E.` VSince it ischaracteristicof pentodes that: the. anode cur..-A

Vrent` and not theanode potentialtfaithfully. fol-i lows theyariations. ofA control-.grid potential, :the currentdowfthrough. the transformer windingV .39 will .,be. a `faitltifullcopy in form .of the potential` impressedpn V.tl'ieagrid 3I-vof .tube-32, las atC,M

Fig.;, 3;

A .secondary Awinding 42 of. thetranSformer y4I is.. ,connected to 7.a deflection ...winding ,43 on fa The deiie'ctiou.

cathode ray tube (not shown). ofnsuch aetubelis proportional. to the4 ampere turns ,.in, its..electromagneticV deection winding and. Vthisin ,turn is...proportional. to the current deliveredto the coil 43 by the transformer secthe form shown at E in Fig. 3f'

Thelinearitypf the currentin th'eavide'o tube .deiiection 'coil '143ir with respect' to. thel input p0"- 'tential-at'the grid' 3 I ofthe differential amplier H2 is subject to wide uctuations, varying with the gain of the amplifier II3 and the magnitude of the signal, and is affected by ageing of the tubes and thermal eifects. of the current fiowing in the coil 43 is fed back to the dierential amplifier H2 in a negative or Therefore, a portion' degenerative sense, which for all practical pur- A poses `completely eliminatesv all non-linear effects in a manner which will be explained hereinafter.

To accomplish this purpose a low resistance 44 is inserted in series with vertical defiection' coil 43 so that current flowing in the vertical' deiiection coil 43 also flows inthe resistor 44. Two conductors 46 and 96 are connected to the two terminals of the resistor 44 so that the po- `l tential drop in the resistor 44, representative of loop by which degenerative or negative feedback around the amplifier H3 is accomplished. This closed loop is composed of the following principal elements: a subtracting device consisting of the differential amplifier H2, a very high gain amplifier H3, the feedback path including the conductors 46 and 96, and a power-dividing device including the resistor 44 to control the amount of output energy that is fed back.

Such an arrangement insures the linearity of the output sawtooth wave form in the followingmanner: bearing in mind that the sawtooth wave form constituting the primary input to the differential amplifier I I2 is made to have true linearity of its sloping side by the use of a resistance-capacity circuit whose time constant is great compared with the time interval between successive synchronizing pulses, departure from such linearity can only result by reason of non-linear I action occurring in the succeeding amplifier circuits. plier circuits, the wave form impressed on the deflection circuits must also be linear.

Assume, for example, that for any of a number of reasons the amplifier circuits I I2 and H3 tend to have characteristics such that although the primary input signal is a sawtooth wave form whose sloping side is truly linear, the output wave form tends to have a drooping characteristic. That is to say, at the higher amplitudes the output signal is increasing less than it should be for a constant slope sawtooth wave form. In such an event the signal obtained from the resistor 44, fed back to the input of the amplifier I I2 and subtracted from the truly linear primary input signal to constitute a difference input signal of the amplifier H2 has the same drooping characteristic. Inasmuch as the primary signal is truly linear the difference signal increases at the higher amplitudes and therefore the difference input signal is made to have a. characteristic which compensates for any undesirable action of the amplifier circuits.

Where, of course, the amplifier I I3 is of extremely high gain and nearly all of the output signal is fed back to the input the corrective action is more pronounced.

In order to illustrate the action of negative or degenerative feedback in forcing the output waveform to simulate the input wave form with Thus if linearity is assured in these am- A The conductor 45 is coupled line graph |08 representing a sawtooth shaped v input potential pulse applied to the input control grid 3| of the tube 32. The dashed line |09 represents feedback potential applied to the grid 35 of the tube'33. 'I he feedback potential |09 being applied in a degenerative sense is ofthe same polarity as the signal potential |08 but is slightly less in amount so that the net signal applied to the amplierthrough the conductor 36 is the difference of the two and is represented by the distance III between the two curves '|00 and |09. Now let'it be supposed that although the input signal |08 remains a straight line, internal non-linearities make the feedback signal potential curve I 09 tend to bend downward. But

this increases the difference III and thus increases .the output signal which is proportional to the difference between the two curves.

of non-linearity, and the greater the gain ofthe amplifier, the more closely the curve is constrained to follow a course which is linear in relation to the input signal.

Thus the introduction of degenerative current feedback forces, the sweep coil current in the instant invention to be closely representative at every point in its path of the corresponding points of the sawtooth potential.v Virtually per-A fect linearity of the vertical sweep is attained automatically vso that manually adjustable 1inearity controls for manipulation during operation of the equipment are not required and are omitted from the circuit. An additional advan-f` tageous result is that changes with time within the circuit of the feedback loop are automatically compensated for by the action of the negative feedback, constituting a great improvement' in the stability of correct operation during any period of time over previously-known circuits.

In Fig. 2 the horizontal synchronizing signals are received from the television receiving circuits at an input termnal`4, and energize a hor-V izontal sweep circuit in general similar-to the above-described vertical sweep circuit. An input'j signal amplifying tube 48 energized rby the hori- 53 and the output pulse after amplification byl the tube'5II,v is applied to a sweep-timing circuit comprising a condenser 56, resistor 51 and potentiometer 58 for adjusting amplitude.

The resulting sawtooth potential is applied to So far the cirthe control grid 530i a tube 6I. cuit is identical, except for sizes of components,

with the first part of the vertical sweep circuit,

period is.1/i5,75u second instead of 1/60 second, so

that theoperation of the two circuits is similar and therefore the description given of the vertical sweep circuit operation need not be rel peated.

In the horizontal sweep circuit, a negative feedback conductor 63 is connected to the cathode 60of the tube 6|, which therefore amplies approximately in proportion to the difference between the potentials appliedto the grid 50 and theJcathOde. B0. This onetube vthus serves as a This in turn increases the feedback, restoring the curve |09 approximately to the position which it would have assumed in the absence of the cause The secondary thereof` isv of recurrence of received synchronization signals,

means for-,triggering said sawtooth generator in timed relation with received synchronization signals, a'i`'dierential amplifier, a high gain am- 1 plifier energized by the output of said differential amplifera deflection circuit energized by the output of said high gain amplifier and circuit means for impressing the signal generated by said sawtooth signal generator and a signal derived Y from said deection circuit on the input of said differential amplifier in opposed relation.

3. A linear sweep circuit for a television receiver comprising, a sawtooth signal wave generator including a. resistance capacity circuit having a tinte constant greatly in excess of the period of recurrence of received synchronization signals,l

means for, triggering said sawtooth signal gener'- ator in tinged relation with the received synchronization signals, a vacuum tube amplier including anode, cathode and control electrodes having its control electrode connected to the output of said sawtooth signal generator, a resistor con- `nected between said cathode and ground, a high gain amplier stage having its input coupled to ,the output of said vacuum tube ampliier and its output coupled to energize a, deflection circuit and a degenerative feedback circuit interconnecting said deection circuit and the cathode of said 'vacuum tube amplifier.

WAYNE K. HODDER. LOUIS L. POURCIAU. RICHARD W. LEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,284,378 Dome 1 May 26, 1942 2,309,672 Schade Feb. 2, 1943 2,414,546 Nagel Jan. 21, 1947 2,440,786 Schade May 4, 1948 2,495,696 Cawein Jan. 31, 1950 

